Nova: The Keep
|fgcolor= |name=Nova: The Keep |image=NovaTheKeep Comic1.jpg |imgsize=250px |author=Micky Neilson |editor= |artist= |intartist=Andras Guinaloo and Sandra Molina |series= |parent= |pages= |publisher=Blizzard Entertainment |published=November 29, 2016 |binding= |isbn10= |isbn13= |isbn10e= |isbn13e= |inseries1= |inseries2= |inseries3= |inseries4= |inseries5= |inseries6= |inseries7= |inseries8= |inseries9= |inseries10= }} Nova: The Keep is a stand-alone comic that was released in November, 2016. The story covers Nova Terra and the Ghost Program, shortly after the events of Legacy of the Void, during the early period of the reign of Valerian Mengsk. It will factor heavily into the third part of Nova Covert Ops.2016-11-05. BlizzCon 2016: Foundations for the Future. Youtube. Accessed 2016-11-05. A concept of the plot is that Valerian is a mirror for Nova, as a man who possesses his own secrets. The comic is available on Madefire as an interactive app.2016-11-06, INSIDE BLIZZARD PUBLISHING. Blizzpro, accessed on 2016-11-11 Description Nova Terra is one of the Dominion's best covert agents, and she's no stranger to secrets. Her latest operation—to break into an impenetrable fortress known as the Keep—will push her to her breaking point and prove that erasing the sins of the past may be the most impossible mission of all.2016-29-11, New StarCraft Comic featuring Nova. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2016-11-30 Synopsis Sometime after the End War, ghost agent Nova Terra returns from a mission to procure a phase disruptor for the Terran Dominion. She watches UNN, hearing of the controversy surrounding Senator Joss Brogan, and reflects on the nature of secrets, memories, and how she has the luxury of mind wipes to forget them. She then voluntary undergoes a mind wipe to forget the details of her previous mission, before being briefed personally by Emperor Valerian Mengsk, a rare occurrence for a field agent. Valerian reveals to her that he had connections to the defunct Moebius Foundation, the organization that bred the hybrid and unleashed them on the Koprulu sector, killing untold numbers of innocents. Valerian then told Nova that his enemies in the Umojan Protectorate had recovered data files on his connections to the Moebius Foundation, and intended to use them to destroy the faith his people had in Valerian. Valerian ordered Nova to infiltrate the Keep, an impenetrable Umojan fortress in space, and recover the data. Nova devised a plan to infiltrate the Keep, using the Charon, a Korhalian light freighter that had been formerly sized by pirates. Nova injected herself with a toxin that mimicked death; though she stated that the wrong dosage would have caused actual death. The Charon was brought on board the Keep, and Nova's body was rushed into the medical bay for autopsy. Thankfully for Nova, the timing of when her toxin wore off was correct, and she psionically assaulted the doctor's mind, giving her a nosebleed and headache that forced the doctor to leave the room. Nova then took off the suit and prepared her infiltration gear, and set out to return to the Charon to retrieve the items she needed for her operation. Using her cloaking device, Nova slipped past the station's security. However, on the way a shadowguard psionically sensed her presence, stating she knew her from her attack on Zanadar Prime, where she blew up a tenement building and killed innocents. Nova had no recollection of this, and mused whether she actually had done it or this was a psychological tactic. She lured the shadowguard into a room, but in reality she had cloaked and was hiding on the ceiling. Nova dropped on the shadowguard, and after a brief hand-to-hand fight Nova shot him. This however alerted the station's security systems, which unleashed black widow drones as defenses. Nova was nearly overwhelmed, when she remembered the station used liquid oxygen for its life support. Nova lured them to a hallway with exposed oxygen lines, then fired on them, freezing the pursuing black widows. Nova returned the Charon, and took a package out of the ship's smuggling compartment. She then set up a bomb in one of the maintenance shafts where Umojan security could see it, set for 2:00. What the Umojans didn't know is that bomb was a decoy, and bombs had been planted on the evacuation shuttles. The Umojans evacuated to the four sentinel watchtowers surrounding the station, all of which were destroyed when Nova's bomb exploded. Nova noted three minutes until reinforcements arrived. Nova moved swiftly to her target, which was behind a one-meter thick vault of the thickest material known to mankind. However, Nova brought a prototype phase disruptor with her, which she set up on a tripod. However, the shadowguard from earlier, still alive after the gunshot wound, attempted to ambush her. Nova kicked him in range of the phase disruptor, and fired, incinerating him and the wall. Nova then retrieved the data, boarded the Charon, and left the Keep. Nova gave the data to Valerian, who expressed gratitude, and regret for what he did with Moebius, turning a blind eye to their hybrid program. Nova asked for permission to speak freely, then stated something an old friend once told her, that the past does not go away just because you hide it. She surmised that the same thing applied to secrets. Valerian quietly thanked her, and stated she was dismissed before looking out into space. Later, Nova prepared to mind wipe herself of the previous operation, when she heard on UNN that Valerian was making the records of his involvement with the Moebius Foundation public, and that there would be no more secrets and lying. Nova turned away from door to the laboratory, opting not to have her memories wiped, stating that just because she could forget something doesn't mean that she should.Neilson, Micky (w), Edouard Guiton (i) and Sandra Molina ©. (November 29, 2016). Nova: The Keep. Blizzard Entertainment. Nova: The Keep Accessed 2016-11-29. Characters Main *Valerian Mengsk *Nova Terra Supporting *Kate Lockwell Mentioned *Joss Brogan Discrepancies Nova's eyes are presented as being blue in this comic, rather than her actual eye color of green. References Category:Webcomics